Berlusconi defends self in Ruby sex trial

19/10/2012

Ex-premier denies having 'intimate relations of any kind'

(ANSA) - Milan, October 19 - Ex-Italian premier Silvio
Berlusconi on Friday defended himself before a Milan court
against charges of allegedly having sex with an underage
prostitute called Ruby and using his influence to cover it up
while claiming she was the niece of former Egyptian leader Hosni
Mubarak.
''I never had intimate relations of any kind,'' he said in
a spontaneous declaration, adding he had been ''convinced'' the
Moroccan ex-runaway and former belly dancer, whose real name is
Karima El Mahroug, had been 24 and not 17 at the time.
He said he had been led to believe Ruby was related to the
ex-Egyptian president during an official meeting of the two
leaders and had simply wanted to avert a diplomatic incident by
having her sprung from a Milan police station in May 2010.
He added that he had never put pressure on police officials
in Milan.
Berlusconi told the court that when he found out that Ruby
was Moroccan and underage he was ''left speechless'', realising
that she had created a false identity possibly to cover up
economic difficulties.
Prosecutors believe Berlusconi had sex with 33 prostitutes
at his villa in Arcore near Milan over the course of several
months.
''I can rule out with absolute certainty that there have
never been scenes of a sexual nature'' at Arcore, said the
ex-premier.
''Many fantasic tales have been told about the evenings at
my private residence,'' he continued, saying they were just
''dinners in a large dining hall where I monopolised the
attention by singing, talking about sport, politics, gossip''
and that he had never paid for sex with his female guests.
He described the charges as a ''monstrous act of defamation
towards me and my guests''.
Berlusconi also told the court that he would have preferred
to be questioned rather than to make a spontaneous declaration
but that 20 years of accusations by Milan judges had ''prevented
me from doing so''.
The ex-premier, who has been convicted in a number of graft
cases but always seen them overturned either on appeal or
because of law changes, has consistently said he is the victim
of a witch hunt by some left-leaning magistrates.